She was sad, brought to tears, then angry, but one thing Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman is not is resigned. Despite never getting the chance to debate her Bill 202 – and then the slap in the face of having it completely shoved off the table by the Conservative’s Bill 10 – the Edmonton MLA is still optimistic.

The debate on whether or not schools should be mandated to allow Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) should a student request them has turned into a chaotic battle where confusion and ignorance are two major players. Blakeman was confident when we talked to her in November, just prior to her delivery of Bill 202: The Safe and Inclusive Schools Statutes Amendment Act; she was certain Alberta was ready for change. What played out next was something she had not seen in 17 years of working in politics. Through a series of shifty moves she was never allowed to speak. Then on December 1st, Bill 10: An Act to Amend the Alberta Bill of Rights To Protect Our Children was introduced. Premier Jim Prentice had deemed 202 "unnecessarily divisive", and so it was shunted aside, replaced, by the controversial Bill 10. Prentice has both taken responsibility for Bill 10 and paused its debate for the uproar that has ensued.

Bill 10 would effectively make it virtually impossible for a student to form a GSA if his school board didn’t want him to. He could appeal that decision, sure – he could take it all the way to the Court of Queen’s Bench – but why would/should a student who just wants a safe space to ask questions as he’s coming of age and forming an identity have to go that route? Does a photographer need the board’s approval to form a photography group? Would he ever need stand before a judge to defend his right to snap photos? Or play a sport?

"Bill 10 is... a push back or a backlash...against what I was trying to do in 202, but I think it’s just part of a process. We’re not at the end of this, not by a long shot," Blakeman says. "I think [Prentice] badly misread Albertans in putting forward Bill 10."

But did he? Prentice is being applauded by many who viewed 202 as a violation of their parental rights and religious freedoms – including Calgary’s Roman Catholic Bishop Fred Henry. The difficult thing to see and hear is that those so vocally opposed don’t seem to know much about GSAs at all.

Blakeman says she has answered the phone to parents who were worried about their children learning about ‘these alternative lifestyles’ and proposing that her bill was in violation of their parental rights. Alternative? she has asked. As oppose to what? Aliens? When she has inquired of these callers how 202 was in conflict with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms she has been called a liar and hung up on. She says these types of questions and fears come from parents who are "staggeringly badly informed".

"Home schoolers turn up widely disproportionate to the numbers that they are," she says, noting that these parents often work from home, are on computers, and are vocal in comment threads on articles lambasting Bill 10, but only account for less than four per cent of families with school-aged children. She estimates that support for Bill 202, in reality, would actually amount to a 4:1 ratio. "I don’t know why, frankly, we would be caving to that."

Blakeman is glad, though, that 202 has garnished governmental attention and got people talking.

"We managed to get that whole agenda up and out into the public... for close to eight weeks, which is pretty cool," she says. "That bill made the Premier actually do something... We actually made him react... We made the government react."

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has also been open about his severe disappointment that a child’s need for a safe space has become an ugly political debate.

"How additionally ridiculous is it that we know these clubs help kids stay safe, we know that these clubs help prevent suicide among a group where one third of the kids attempt suicide," he said in a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce December 11th.

"As someone who works with LGBT youth, these groups [GSAs] are extremely important to the success and growth of these kids in their school culture," says James Demers, activist and co-chair of the Miscellaneous Youth Network, which strives to create safe and welcoming spaces for LGBT youth. "These clubs are life savers for many isolated youth whose biggest bullies are often their parents."

Blakeman says support for Bill 10 is not rampant within the student or even parent population itself, but among trustees, adding that "there is no separation of Church and State there".

"The kids are already [supportive].... Anyone under 35 gets this... they look at us like What is wrong with you old farts?," she laughs. "We have a public school system that tax payers pay for... we all agree that it is a good thing to have an educated society...whether you have children, your children are grown, or maybe you don’t have children yet."

"I do not agree with the Premier that it is ok to enforce an accommodation in one school and not the other. No group gets a ‘pass’ or a ‘buy’. We pay for both... You are not going to teach discrimination as a part of schooling."

"The PC government is doing the entire province a dis-service by refusing to bring public policy to the level of social progression present in the general population," Demers states.

Danielle Smith, former leader of the Wildrose Party, appeared on board with Bill 202, but has since ditched her party along with a flock of other MLAs to cross over the Tories.

"Smith was really affected by visiting camp fYrefly and that convinced her of the essentialness of GSAs," Blakeman says.

Nenshi, saying he doesn’t often get political, got political on this issue. He said he could not stay mum about a provincial issue when it was an issue that involved human rights, particularly the rights of a child to feel safe.

"This conversation that we’ve had over the last couple of weeks gives us a very interesting reason to vote," he said in his speech. "Sometimes you’ve got to vote for what’s just right."

"Everybody has got to step up to the mark," Blakeman says. "I’m not letting go of this. I will continue to try to move this issue forward."

"This is a horse with a bit in their teeth."

She said she never could have imagined the level of trickery and dirty political game playing that closed the doors on a bill that would have given a LGBT student’s right to feel equal with his or her peers at any school they attended in the province.

"Who are you guys to decide this is the way it’s going to be to the rest of us?" Blakeman asks.

Spring session will start back up in February. Until then, we can only wait to hear and observe what consultations the Premier will engage in on this issue.

"I’ve been through a lot... so I keep my eye on the ball," Blakeman says. "I keep coming back to them [the kids]... They shouldn’t be collateral damage."